Arantia Larochette won the decisive M-U22 semifinal 104-67 against Amicale Steinsel in Larochette and qualified for the final. It was Arantia's third win over Amicale this season, again by a clear margin.
The start was balanced. Amicale went 10-7 up behind early baskets from Elyass Zaourou and Bob Rech, but Karolis Abramavicius' team changed the rhythm quickly. From 7-10, Arantia closed the first quarter on a 25-9 surge for 32-19. The 1.98m center Noé Tibold (Season PPG: 21.38) was already imposing himself inside, including 6 points in a row late in the opening period.
The second quarter decided the game. Arantia opened with a 9-0 run to move from 32-21 to 41-21, with Edson Rafael De Sousa Silva (Season PPG: 25.25) setting the tone. By halftime, the lead was 59-36. Amicale then never got the gap under twenty again. A 21-year-old French guard, Mykolas Maindron (Season PPG: 21.63), added 5 straight points in the third quarter as Arantia stretched the margin to 74-45.
The last quarter pushed the difference even further, with the highest lead reaching 39 points at 104-65 before the final basket.
De Sousa Silva finished with 24 points, Tibold had 20, Lee Brosius 12 and Maindron 11. Arantia had seven scorers with at least 5 points, including Leandro Rodrigues-Machado (19, 1.90m, FRA) with 5. For Amicale, Noah Terence Stansbury Daleiden (Season PPG: 12.80) scored 16, Jules Reuter (Season PPG: 9.89) 14, while Sean Bugeja (Season PPG: 17.88) and Zaourou added 10 each. Zaourou also picked up three fouls by early second quarter, which made Amicale's task harder.
(AI generated)